Longoria's Long-Term Deal A Gamble, But It's Worth It

By JOE HENDERSON The Tampa Tribune

Published: Apr 19, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - "Seven days? Is that a record?"

Left fielder Carl Crawford was shaking his head and laughing inside the Rays clubhouse Friday afternoon. The No. 1 topic was the contract the club reached with rookie wonder boy Evan Longoria - a deal that could run as long as nine years and will fetch the lad $17.5 million at worst, $44 million at best.

Nine years!

Let's put it another way. After Friday's events, Longoria has more years on his contract than days in the major leagues (seven, as Crawford noted). So much for conspiracy theorists who were convinced the Rays sent him back to the minors last month to keep his clock from starting for arbitration and free agency.

"This has kind of been the story of my career," he said. "Everything has been fast-paced."

This is how badly the Rays wanted to get this done. Executive Vice President Andrew Friedman has been talking numbers with Longoria's agent since spring training. If Willy Aybar hadn't been injured last week - forcing the Rays to promote Longoria to the majors - Friedman said there was a good chance this deal would have been finalized while the kid was still in Durham.

I'll raise an eyebrow on that, by the way, but no matter. They were obviously going to get this done at some point. It would make less sense if efforts weren't being made to sign some of the other young talents on this team to similar long-term deals, but since they have been, this deal isn't as surprising as it might seem at first.

"It's a great signing," Crawford said. "Longo is a piece of the puzzle for this team. It only makes sense to get him locked up."

Worth The Gamble

It's easy to put your hand on your wallet when most sports owners walk past, but something needs to be said. Stu Sternberg has basically followed the blueprint he laid out 2

1/2

years ago when he bought this team.

"We have to think differently," Friedman said.

They systematically got rid of players (and contracts) that never were going to be part of things here. Aubrey Huff, Toby Hall, Mark Hendrickson, Julio Lugo, Dewon Brazelton, Danys Baez, Seth McClung, Jorge Cantu.

They have given long-term deals to Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, James Shields, Carlos Pena, and now Longoria. They have talked with Scott Kazmir and B.J. Upton about similar arrangements. There will be more. A team trying to slug it out with the Yankees and Red Sox on a pauper's budget has to take chances.

Longoria is worth the gamble.

"We believe in Evan as a player and a person, or we wouldn't do this," Friedman said.

Of course, other people said the same thing about Matt White, Bobby Seay and Wilson Alvarez, and we know how that wound up - a $48 million collection of misjudgment and misfortune. I remember when they invested $32 million in a washed-up Greg Vaughn and were so stoked they created the "Hit Show" to promote it.

I thought it made sense to sign Huff to a three-year, $14.5 million extension in 2004. And it did.

At the time.

So what makes this different? One thing about this kid everyone has noticed from the start is that he just looks and carries himself like a baseball player should. It's an air that may be hard to explain, but you know it when you see it.

Who's Next?

Back inside the Rays clubhouse, all eyes were focused on TV screens that carried news reports of the signing. There were some smirking grins. There were some shaking heads. One guy yelled out, "Way to go, Longo."

It's legitimate to wonder what the other players really think of giving this much money to an unproven player. So we asked them.

B.J. Upton's answer was, "I love being here."

Crawford added, "My situation is that there is no need [to talk extension] right now. I'm two years away. There is nothing like security. I would never tell a guy not to go for security."

It's a huge gamble to give a 22-year-old with seven days in the major leagues a contract for this many years and that much money. It's also a tradeoff. Longoria gets security now and the Rays have control over him for almost a decade.

This deal might look pretty good by then. If not, if the baseball gods frown, stuff happens. But it was still the right play for a team that has to think differently.